Kimmich on the Germany debate: “In the end, the best always play”
After Bayern's 2-2 draw in Augsburg, Joshua Kimmich addressed the debate over his role in the Germany team. He said head coach Klopp had clearly explained his reasons from the start.
Photo: Granada / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · Bundesliga · youtube.com
Joshua Kimmich spoke about the debate over his international future after Bayern's 2-2 draw at FC Augsburg on Saturday. “In the end, the best always play. Over the last ten years I've done pretty well at being among the best,” the 31-year-old said, according to SID. The only thing he could focus on was his own performance: “That's what I've done for the last eleven years. I'll keep doing that.”
Kimmich was in head coach Jürgen Klopp's first squad for the games in Amsterdam (1-1) and against Greece in Augsburg (0-1), but was not part of the squad for the matches against Serbia (2-0) and in Greece (0-0). “The coach communicated that very clearly from the start. He also explained the reasons. So that was okay for me,” Kimmich said. After Jamal Musiala's injury he thought: “Jamal was planned for both weeks, maybe a door will open again,” GOAL quoted him as saying.
Bayern sporting director Max Eberl called the debate “absolutely absurd” and Kimmich an “outstanding player”. In Augsburg, Kimmich played in central midfield alongside Aleksandar Pavlović; Robin Fellhauer gave Augsburg the lead after just over eight seconds and Nathaniel Brown equalised for 2-2 in the 80th minute. The video highlights come from the official YouTube channel “Bundesliga”.